This chocolate peanut butter spread only requires a few ingredients and minutes to make! It’s also naturally gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free.
My favorite not-so-unhealthy thing for breakfast is an English muffin with homemade peanut butter. To make homemade peanut butter, all you do is process peanuts in a food processor. It’s ridiculously simple.
Then I got to thinking… is there some way to involve chocolate in this breakfast fun? It’s hard to beat chocolate + peanut butter, isn’t it?
I tried doing it the healthy way. I added cocoa powder and honey to my peanut butter. This didn’t work. It wasn’t creamy but crumbly and not chocolaty enough.
I won’t sacrifice on taste. It has to be both healthy and tasty for a recipe to get posted!
So what we have here is basically peanut butter + melted chocolate chips and a little extra cocoa powder for extra chocolate goodness. I mean, if you use dark chocolate, with all the antioxidants and all, this is basically health food. ;)
Look. WebMD agrees with me.
“Dark chocolate — but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk — is a potent antioxidant… Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.”
Antioxidants are gobblers! I love the word gobble.
If you use dairy-free / vegan chocolate (which most semi-sweet brands seem to be – at least over here in Germany), this chocolate peanut butter spread is dairy-free and vegan.
To make this recipe, you first make peanut butter and then add chocolate and cocoa powder. If you don’t have a food processor or a high-speed blender, you can use store-bought peanut butter.
Just make sure to use natural peanut butter without any added fat or sugar.
Substitution questions about this chocolate peanut butter?
- Can I use something instead of peanuts?
Any other type of nut / seed would probably work but you might need to add a bit of sweetener. When using sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter in other recipes, I find that I need to add a bit of sugar.
Definitely use a granulated sugar! I’d recommend coconut sugar. If you add a liquid one, it’ll likely make the nut / seed butter seize.
You’d also need to roast, slightly cool and process the nuts longer, depending on what type of nut you use. Here’s how to make almond butter. - Can I use something instead of semi-sweet / dark chocolate?
I thought that this recipe had the perfect amount of sweetness using semi-sweet chocolate but for people who like things darker, dark chocolate works. I think milk chocolate would be too sweet. I have no idea about white chocolate but I also think it’s a bit too sweet (you’d also want to omit the cocoa powder then).
- Do I have to use cocoa powder?
I didn’t think it was chocolaty enough without it. You can add the chocolate, stir, taste and then add the cocoa powder. You could also use cacao powder.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread (vegan, gluten-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: about 1 1/3 cups
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (90) semi-sweet chocolate chips (make sure to use dairy-free / vegan, if needed)
- 2 cups (400 grams) roasted and salted peanuts or 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon (400 grams) roasted and salted natural peanut butter (the kind with no added fat or sugar)
- 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder (regular cocoa powder also works but I prefer the more chocolaty taste of Dutch-process)
- a pinch of salt if your peanuts aren't already salted
Directions
- Using the s-blade of your food processor, process the peanuts until creamy. At first there'll be ground peanuts, and then it'll start to come together in a ball, then it'll actually be a ball, and then the ball will break down and be super creamy.
- Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl at half power, in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds. Add the cocoa powder and salt, if using, and pulse.
- Then add the melted chocolate and pulse a few times until it's thoroughly combined.
- I store this at room temperature so that it'll remain nice and creamy. You could store it in the fridge if you like but it will harden quite a bit, making it difficult to spread.
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72 comments on “Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread (vegan, gluten-free)” — Add one!
6 comments are awaiting moderation!
If I made this as a gift how long will it last before opening? Ta :)
What do you mean before opening? Do you want to can it? I don’t know a thing about canning so I have no idea if that’s what you mean. But without canning, it keeps refrigerated for several months and at room temperature for at least a month. :)
if i don’t have a good processor, can i just stir the cocao powder into the natural pb?????
I’m sorry for just now seeing your question! Yes, that works. :)
I just noticed recently all the hydrogenated junk in Nutella, and felt the need to explore options. A jar of homemade Nutella from the farmers market was good but $10 for a tiny jar.
I want to try this, but in meantime wanted to use up some of the Costco PB my HB got.
So I put 3 oz semi sweet choc, melted, in with about 1.5 cups of PB and 2tbsp cocoa. It was good, but adding 2 spoons of honey made the choc taste pop a lot more.
I am excited to get going with healthier tree nuts and save $ with the real recipe!
Thanks!
I like your recipe! Adding chocolate and honey sounds amazing. :) And if you want the chocolate hazelnut version, here you go. It tastes nothing like Nutella and requires quite a bit of sweetener (because of all the cocoa powder) but at least it doesn’t have funky stuff. I’m sure it would also benefit from some honey. ;) The only thing is that peeling the hazelnuts is really, really annoying. I recommend buying blanched hazelnuts if they have them at Costco!
This peanut butter sounds ridiculously incredible! I realllllly want to make it but I am unsure of when to add the melted chocolate chips into the mix. You forgot to mention that..
Oh my! So sorry and thank you for pointing that out! It’s fixed now. :) I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Erin, what sort of food processor do you recommend to make nut butters? I bought something that was labeled “food processor” but it’s a gloried chopper and little else. Help! Thanks:)
Was it a full-sized food processor? How strange! Definitely get a full-sized one (although I know someone who makes peanut butter with an immersion blender!) I’ve never used this one but I’ve heard it’s good: Cuisinart food processor. Good luck! :)
I just made some of your plain peanut butter, and it is delicious! I am wondering if you recommend storing it in the fridge. We usually keep even opened store-bought natural peanut butter in the cupboard, because it doesn’t last that long in our house, but I don’t know if this would be any different with homemade.
I recommend keeping it in the fridge. It’s just peanuts so I have no idea why it’d go bad but I feel uneasy about saying room temperature is fine. I’m happy you liked the peanut butter! Thanks for the feedback. :)
I just made this. It s so easy and tastes fabulous. I’ve made your Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter several times so was surprised how easy this was and how quickly it came together. I don’t think I’ll ever buy nut butter again :)
Yay! So happy to hear that you like both nut butters. :) And excellent that you’ll no longer have to buy store bought nut butters. They’re so outrageously expensive! Thanks a ton for your feedback and the rating. :)
Mmmm, I loooooove chocolatey peanut butter. I don't know why honey never works for me in nut butters. Isn't it weird? Anyways, this looks awesome :)
Ok, loving this peanut butter chocolate week! I need to pin both of these recipes. Mmmmmm, I seriously cannot wait to make this. It is happening as soon as I get home!
Trouble. That's all I have to say about homemade chocolate peanut butter. I could eat that stuff on ice cream, an English muffin, a spoon, you name it. Your photos look amazing! I hope I can try this recipe soon. :)
Love, love, love! Your photos are very inviting and the peanut butter is almost ready for me to take my finger to it and take a bite. Delish!!
Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of chocolate peanut butter before. It's so simple and easy. :)
What a brilliant idea! Love the rich color and the perfect creaminess of this peanut butter. Oh, wow!
Just hand me a spoon and a bib! ;)
Haha. Good idea! We've gotta be neat about it. :)
Ooh yum, your chocolate peanut butter looks so good!
Thank you! :)
I often eat an English muffin with peanut butter for breakfast, but I sprinkle it with a few chocolate chips. This is so much better though!!
Ooh, I like your idea! A sprinkle of chocolate chips sounds even better. :)
Chocolate and peanut butter are an irresistible match! I think I'd this this entire jar via spoon. ;)
Haha. Well why not? It's fewer calories if you skip the bread. ;)
Oh my goodness, am I in heaven??? This is absolutely fantastic. I can also imagine this chocolate peanut butter in a swirl cake, maybe? Decadent – yes! Delicious? Double yes!!!!
Oh, yeah! That sounds amazing. I'm working on a post right now for some peanut butter topped chocolate brownies. This would also work there! Yay. :D
Sounds WONDERFUL! Love your cute little jar too, is it German?
It's a Weck jar! I've seen them on other blogs so I know that you can get them in the US. They're so small. Love them for nut butters and jam!